Every morning, our 1 year old gets into bed with us and together we read five books that we’ve borrowed from the library. He likes new books, but there’s a few that are clear standouts. ‘More!’ he shouts over and over and I find myself reading the book from cover to cover ten times… and all of this before 7am.

I’ve listed below his top ten favourite books and what he loves about them. Before I know it this list will change completely, so I better write it down before we forget.

1. Junkyard Dig!: Building from A to Z by Annie Auerbach

These trucks who live in Trucktown decide to build a fort from various things they find at the dump. My son loves the rocket (we countdown 3-2-1 then blast off) and the umbrella (that pops open then floats down into his lap) and the yak (because it looks like he has a banana on his head). He also squeals with delight when he sees the teddy bear on the front grill of Gabriella the Garbage Truck.

A bunch of boys get stuck on a tropical island without any adults. Sounds pretty tame, doesn’t it?

Lord of the Flies (1954) was the 10th book on my 100 book challenge and drew me in from the very beginning. A group of boys are stranded on a desert island. At first it seems like paradise, but just a few pages in you start to see things going terribly wrong. The boys can’t agree on whether they should focus on being rescued (build a fire) or getting meat to eat (hunt pigs). The two main characters, Ralph and Jack, bicker, argue and viciously fight throughout the book. Everything falls apart quickly when the structure and rules of society are taken away.

It’s a beautiful (and at times terrifying) warning of just how fragile the order of civilisation is.

At 11am AEDT tomorrow (Saturday) I will be presenting at the Digital Writers Festival, talking about how just 500 words a month took my writing to places I never imagined (one of those places being the DWF itself!)

Anyone can watch the session online by going here and interact via Twitter using #DWF15. Go on! I dare you to ask me a thought-provoking question and watch me squirm!

We were lounging on the deck, the lines of shade from the banister settling across our backs.

After a while she said, ‘I gotta go.’

She stretched her long limbs and stood, shaking a mane of dark hair behind her.

When she walked away I saw what the afternoon of sun had done. The back of her legs and her bare shoulders were a criss-cross pattern of dark and light, unique and never to be repeated again.

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Could you write 500 words once a month? On Friday 13th/Saturday 14th February, Jessie Ansons will be presenting at a free livestream at the Digital Writers Festival. Come along and hear how Jessie wrote a personal 500 word story every month for two years then discovered she’d written an ‘accidental memoir‘. Times are as follows:

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information follow this Rochelle’s FF blog.

I wrote about how a framed picture of Monet’s water-lillies played an integral (if not, embarrassing) part of a roadtrip up the coast. ABC liked it and produced it for Radio National’s Life Matters program.

It’s a short, fun piece about young love. You can listen to the audio here (where you’ll agree that singing is not my strength) or read the online published piece here.